Emergency response teams have realized that the most effective way at handling a dynamic situation is to create a structure that allows the front line to determine the best response, not depend on a remote command structure to tell them what to do. There is just not enough time to transfer the information up the command chain and wait for direction.
To get to this level of coordination and proper response, emergency response workers train, train and train some more in realistic simulations. They are trained to adapt to their dynamic environment and situational developments, not attempt to control them. They frequently evaluate their responses to simulations and real situations to review their decisions and execution of services.
While on a lesser scale, your software development team works in a dynamic, high velocity and sometimes critical environment. They are dealing with changes and new information all the time. Changes to customer requests, issues in the field, architecture or design flaws, defects, integration issues, etc. However, in most companies, leadership has neither prepared nor empowered the team to respond and address these changes. Management requires a review of changes before proceeding with new a direction.
You may see this in the form of a Change Control Board (CCB), change request orders, customer signoff, and other forms that require a management approval of scope change, architecture change, etc. These form of controls merely serve to slow the team down, increase micromanagement and generally decrease employee satisfaction and productivity. They do not typically increase quality of the developed solution.
To build a highly productive and responsive team to provide the most value for your customers, your team needs to be able to respond to change quickly and move on. It is your responsibility as the leader of that team to prepare them for change and empower them to address it. You cannot fix this by simply adding another change process document and posting on your intranet. It requires organizational change – establishing and communicating roles and responsibilities on your teams that provide them the power and tools to deal with their emergencies.